Shehr-Islam: The Lost Oasis of the Silk Road

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Shehr-Islam: The Lost Oasis of the Silk Road

Among the numerous trade and craft cities that emerged along the main routes of the Silk Road, the lost Shehr-Islam stands out—a once-important communication hub connecting the agricultural oases of southern Turkmenistan with the nomadic herders of the north. Just half an hour’s drive from modern-day Baharden, you find yourself in a place that thrived for at least six hundred years, from the 9th to the 14th century. Today, it is difficult to imagine what a well-developed, green, and beautiful city this desolate place must have been during those distant times. The steppe surrounding it, with encroaching sand dunes, was there then as well, but the water that once nourished the city has long since disappeared. As a result, Shehr-Islam withered and dried up like an old tree deprived of moisture. The bustling bazaars, where many languages were spoken, have fallen silent; the numerous kilns in the workshops, where bricks and earthenware were fired, metal was melted, and bread was baked, have cooled.

Only amorphous mounds, scattered with ceramic fragments from past buildings, almost buried traces of previous excavations, and the only surviving mausoleum from the 19th century on the site of the old cemetery, roughly constructed from old bricks, remain as remnants of what was once a vibrant city.

The first researcher to visit these ruins in 1897 was the Russian military oriental scholar Captain Fyodor Mikhailov, who was serving as the police chief in the nearby Turkmen village of Durun. He carefully mapped the site, conducted small excavations, and traced the ancient water supply system that brought water to Shehr-Islam from the foothills’ kyariz (underground aqueducts). These tunnels, dug in the medieval period, stretched from water-bearing layers to places of water consumption. They emerged at the surface, turning into channels that irrigated the fields, or continued underground in narrow brick channels that delivered water to the city. By the late 19th century, according to Mikhailov’s description, this grand water system was in a completely ruined state, with its path marked by scattered broken bricks and embankments.

A special interest lies in the water supply system of the city, located far from any water sources. The residents of Shehr-Islam constructed a unique hydraulic engineering structure—a brick aqueduct nearly 22 km long. This aqueduct, dating from the 11th-12th centuries, had a capacity of up to 250 liters per second. Compared to other hydraulic systems in Central Asia and neighboring Eastern countries of the period, the Shehr-Islam aqueduct is an extraordinary phenomenon.


The Persian qanat system, an ingenious 3,000-year-old invention, transported underground water to cities and farmlands, enabling survival in arid climates. Traces of it are widely found in nowadays Turkmenistan. Built with advanced engineering, it features tunnels, wells, and ventilation shafts, showcasing ancient mastery of hydrology and sustainable water management.


Numerous archaeological finds, primarily crafted items, indicate that Shehr-Islam was one of the trade and craft cities of Northern Khwarezm. Imported items, such as precious stones, reveal the trade connections of the city. Excavations in various parts of the city have uncovered residential quarters, pottery kilns, workshops, city walls, and a large storage facility for iron ore and limestone.

It is noteworthy that in some places, the thickness of the cultural layers reaches up to 10.5 meters. The eastern citadel contained numerous buildings, and its entrance was designed with an arch, its facade decorated with decorative bricks covered in turquoise glaze. The preserved fortification walls and defensive towers—about 90 in total—indicate that the city’s inhabitants placed significant importance on fortification. The northern wall, facing the nomadic steppes, was especially strong, likely to protect the city from the main threat coming from that direction.

Of particular interest is the fact that when constructing the western citadel’s walls, logs were placed under the foundation along its entire length. This was likely done to dampen the effects of earthquakes or to protect the brickwork from saline groundwater.

Many residential buildings were directly attached to the city wall, which likely served both strategic and economic purposes: the houses also acted as part of the city’s fortifications. They had high ceilings, which was suitable for the hot climate.

Thus, the research shows that the city formed in the 9th century, reaching its peak in the 12th-early 13th centuries. In the second half of the 13th to 14th centuries, craft production sharply declined, the number of residential houses decreased, and the population shrank. After a brief revival at the turn of the 14th to 15th centuries, Shehr-Islam (Tak-Yazir) ceased to exist as a city. Some authors believe that life in the city ended in the 16th century.